When I booked the Hamburg Marathon, the six months to wait seemed like an eternity, an eternity in which I was sure I would gain 20 kilos, lose all my fitness and break at least one vital limb. Suddenly it’s only a month and a half away and none of those things have happened. Of course none of them had happened at this stage in my training for Yorkshire either, and I will be very very conscious of what I am doing in a month’s time and definitely not fucking off parkrun in favour of a 10 mile race for the hell of it then running 20 miles and finishing up with a grass parkrun. In short I must not be complacent because despite the fact things are going well I am still ME and still have all the perils that come with being ME.
Looking back at my goals in the post I wrote in November, I can confirm that I have indeed got my 5k back below 30 minutes (the highlight being a 28:47 at Bromley parkrun on 28 December – seriously, what is it about Bromley parkrun that is so fast? Magic springy tarmac? People running as fast as possible to get away from Bromley? It’s a mystery). I am definitely disappointed when not below 30, in fact I was apoplectic with rage when I got 30:01 at frigging Darlington South Park. I have remained (well) below 55kg, in fact I weighed 50.4kg this morning which seems ridiculously low so maybe I will have to go on a putting on weight diet for the first time in my life – after the marathon. I have deadlifted 50kg, but not whilst actually weighing 50kg, so it doesn’t quite count. I got a sub 60 10k!! It was the day after the irritation of the 30:01 parkrun and I think the fury (and the help of my friend Keith who was the 60 minute pacer) fuelled me on. The rest of the items on the list are yet to be fulfilled, so watch this space.
I’m writing this post with my overnight bag packed for a trip to Walton on Thames for a Phoenix Races lapped event. These are a really good way of getting long runs done in the winter cos you can stash all your stuff at the start/finish (which just happens to be a pub) and have an easy way of adding/removing clothes, going to the toilet, eating the provided pick and mix, and there is an option to throw in the towel every 5.3k. I need to do about 28k tomorrow which isn’t a multiple of 5.3 so maybe I will carry on to 28k and then walk the rest of the lap. Or just carry on indefinitely. You get a medal at the end, which as far as I can tell is a random medal sourced from a random event you didn’t actually attend. The last time I got one from the “Giants Head Half 2023” which has a picture of a chalk man hillside thingy with a glittery revolving willy on it. Can’t say fairer than that.
7:07 